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In 2019, Animal Nepal launched our campaign against the ‘Cage confinement of layer hens’. The main aim of this campaign is to free layer hens from this cruel practice by raising awareness about the harm this causes to the hens and humans alike.

Majority of the layer hens in Nepal and worldwide are confined to cramped battery cages where they live their entire life. Caged hens suffer from the denial of their natural behaviors such as spreading their wings, perching and dust-bathing. Worst of all, these hens are not able to follow their natural instinct of finding somewhere to nest to lay their eggs, instead, they are biologically engineered to become egg-laying machines, where they are simply viewed as a commodity. Not only is producing eggs in this manner harmful to the hen, but the eggs contain chemicals (used in the chicken feed) and antibiotics which are harmful to humans.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO)‘s One Health approach, multiple sectors must work together to achieve better public health outcomes, particularly in food safety. The overuse of Antimicrobial in food production has meant that ‘without immediate action, the world is heading towards a post-antibiotic era in which common infections could once again kill.’ Antimicrobial agents are medicines used to treat infections but excessive and inappropriate use can lead to the emergence of resistant bacteria which do not respond to antibiotic treatment. Antibiotics are used excessively on farmed animals, e.g. layer hens as they are cramped into a small space where they are more vulnerable to infectious diseases. The resistant bacteria can then contaminate the eggs produced by the hen and enter the human body, thus leaving consumers vulnerable to diseases resistant to antibiotics.

Hens are one of the most abused species on earth and in harming them, we are also harming ourselves. With your health and those of your loved ones at risk, as consumers, we encourage our friends and supporters to do more in demanding an end to the cruel cage confinement of layer hens.